While activists fear that farmers will be further in the grip of agro-giants that control farm chemicals and commercial seeds, Ananta Dalodom, president of the Horticultural Science Society of Thailand, cautions opponents not to lean too far to the extreme side.

He acknowledged that Thailand’s seed law, enacted in 1999, has flaws in terms of definition and execution but said critics are sometimes overly concerned the new international law will harm the livelihood of farmers.

Opponents of the FTA such as Witoon Lianchamroon, director of the BioThai Foundation, say the trade deal would extend patents on plant varieties, forcing Thai farmers to pay triple the current price for seeds.

The concern is the EU will press Thailand to adopt the 1991 International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, which would extend plant patents to between 20 and 25 years, up from 12-20 years under Thai law.

But Mr Ananta, a former director-general of the Agriculture Department, brushed aside such talk.

"The fear that the new law will be a form of monopoly resulting in farmers having to pay more for seeds is an extreme view," he said.

"We have lots of extreme views going on right now such as the protests against the construction of the Mae Wong Dam."

He said farmers should accept the fact that prices will be higher for hybrid seeds with higher yields.

The private sector, meanwhile, says it is only fair for companies to have protection if they spend the money to develop seeds with higher yields.

"If there is adequate protection, would that mean we will raise our prices? No," said Joost Pekelharing, the president of East-West Seed. "It is based on unfounded fear, and people are misguided."

Meanwhile, the cost of seeds is a small component of overall cost - 5% of total input cost excluding labour.

"Thailand has everything in favour except regulations, which will be a big challenge for Thailand if it wants to become the seed hub of the region," said Mr Pekelharing.

3-sep-2019Via Campesina

La Via Campesina is calling upon its members and allies to not be misled by the smokescreen of a ‘weakening WTO’ and be aware of the new age mega and bilateral free trade agreements are equally if not more harmful.